Crowdsourcing Call for a Dystopian Short Film

The innovative aspect of crowdsourcing in film making is being put to the test by a group of British film students for a futuristic drama. The film, 2050 is the brainchild of Brighton-based student Ricarda Saleh and tells the story of a captured member of an underground resistance movement by an oppressive government. The story will not only unfold on the screen but feature scenes and back stories through a variety of social media platforms including Twitter, YouTube, Pinerest and Instagram. Ricarda and her team have invited the crowd to participate and help make the movie by voting and suggesting aspects to be featured in the finished project. 

Written, produced and directed by Ricarda Saleh, 2050 is the story of Xia (played by Ricarda), a member of an underground resistance movement who is captured by a agents of a brutal government regime. She is interrogated and tortured for information about her fellow resistance members and contacts but Xia refuses to co-operate. Their methods clearly having failed thus far, Xia's torturers inform her that she has until midnight to co-operate or be prepared to suffer an even worse fate. As she is left to make her decision Xia suddenly finds herself reflecting on her past, happy memories of friendship, beauty and tranquillity. The deadline looms ever closer and soon Xia will have to make a decision.

Although crowdfunding has played an integral role in helping independent films see the light of the cinema screen, renowned projects such as The Age of Stupid in 2009 starring the late British actor Pete Postlethwaite, very few have actually called on the crowd to collaborate with the film makers to influence content. The exceptions have been the Ridley Scott produced Life in a Day (and the follow up production Britain in a Day) as well as the Vimeo sponsored Star Wars Uncut. Ricarda's production 2050 draws inspiration from such productions to involve the crowd in determining various aspects of the finished film. To date the crowd have helped chose costumes to be used and even helped decide on names for the principle characters. 

2050 is part of a new generation of film making: user generated cinema. Crowdsourcing is going to revolutionise the film industry. Audiences want to get involved in the film making process. We decided to crowdsource our short film and create a cross media story to experiment with these new storytelling techniques - Ricarda Saleh, Writer, Director, Producer 2050

The latest call is to provide what promises to be the most chilling and pivotal moment in the film. During Xia' s incarceration as the deadline is about to expire, a voice from nowhere suddenly announces her time is about to run out and that in order to avoid the terrible fate that awaits her Xia must co-operate. The crowd is invited to submit a voice recording of the announcement (see video below for instructions). The voice should be synthesised and/or enhanced to give it a futuristic and eerie sound, indicative of a tyrannical and brutal regime of a futuristic dystopian world. The recording should then be uploaded using SoundCloud. However just as Xia has only a limited time to save herself so does the crowd to participate as recordings should be submitted within three days. For more information about the project, including cast & crew as well as further updates visit and like 2050's Facebook page.